Book Review: Tag, You’re Dead by Kathryn Foxfield
Tag, You're Dead by Kathryn Foxfield
Published: July 7th 2022 by Scholastic Press
Rating: ★★★★ (4)
Genre: Young Adult // Thriller, Mystery
Quick Thoughts: A smart and calculated read with a killer storyline that shows the dark side of fame and playing with fire.
About The Book:
The bestselling author of Good Girls Die First and It’s Behind You is back with an entertaining, high-octane and read-in-a-single-sitting new thriller.
When teen reality star Anton Frazer unveils his latest stunt – a live-streamed, citywide game of Tag in which the prize is to be one of his live-in acolytes – his fans go wild. The whole world is watching.
The contestants are kitted out with body cams, GPS trackers and pressure sensors that, if activated by a competitor, will send them out of the running. They venture into night-time London to hunt each other down.
Four contestants in particular have alternative motives for being there, secret reasons to want to win despite the risk: money, revenge, obsession, and fame. And one of them will stop at nothing to be the victor at the end of this adrenaline-and-fear fuelled night…
First Thoughts
YA Thrillers are quickly becoming some of my favourite reads. After I finished You Can Trust Me a little while ago, I knew I wanted to get firmly back into the genre for good—and when this came along, it was almost fate.
My Review
Anton Frazer—teen reality “star”—whose reputation precedes him, has a new trick up his sleeve after a disastrous death that happened on his watch: a massive game of Tag. And not the kind we used to play in school, either. This is on a different level—live-streamed, town-wide and worth it’s incredible prize to be a part of his live-in crew, a coveted position that many would do anything to achieve.
More than a few people want to be in with a chance of winning, all for their own motives. We get to read the POV of the reasons behind four players intentions as they are each donned in GPS trackers, cameras and sensors. As soon as they’re ready to compete against one another, it’s clear what is at the forefront: revenge, money, obsession and fame—with Anton tied to the root of it all. And with their motivations at an all time high when the game begins, they’ll stop at nothing to be the winner, even if it means going above and beyond their prior intentions.
Overall, Tag, You’re Dead was a smart and calculated read with a killer storyline that shows the dark side of fame and playing with fire. I was captivated by the entire premise, reading it in just over two days (or nights) time, pulled into the mystery easily. Even though I found it hard to initially get into, which is the case for thrillers sometimes as they require a lot of tension building, by the end of the book, I was totally in awe of the story as a whole and how much it surprised me at every turn. I’m considering myself a newfound fan of Kathryn’s, and can’t wait to read more from her!
About The Author
Kathryn Foxfield writes dark books about strange things. She blames her love of the creepy and weird on a childhood diet of Point Horror, Agatha Christie and Dr Who. She writes about characters who aren’t afraid to fight back, but wouldn’t last 5 minutes in one of her own stories. Kathryn is represented by Chloe Seager of the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency. Her YA thrillers GOOD GIRLS DIE FIRST, IT'S BEHIND YOU and TAG, YOU'RE DEAD are published by Scholastic in the UK and Sourcebooks Fire in the US.
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happy reading!
